Official poverty statistics have been criticized, however, for being based on an outdated measure of poverty (Blank, 2008; Citro and Michael, 1995). First put into use in the 1960s, the official poverty measure's (OPM) concept of needs has been updated for inflation but still reflects the living standards, family budgets, and family structures of…

How government spends money, and who benefits, reveals our priorities. How, then, do children fare in the competition for public resources? This report looks at public investments across age groups, from birth through the elementary years. Key findings show that spending more than doubles per capita between the infant and toddler years and the…

To advance the economic and social health of the country, the federal government directs resources to children--the country's future workers, parents, and voters. This helps ensure the well-being of children and helps them develop their potential and future contributions to our common welfare. Federal resources are used to promote the health and…

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is the federal agency with the explicit legislative mandate to support mental retardation research. Examination of funding trends within that institute over the past 10 years reveals a steady and linear decline in relative support for mental retardation research. (Author)

A survey of 30 major U.S. cities indicates a decline in the share of tax dollars for leisure services in the period 1964-74 in nineteen cities and a rise in priority status in eight. Alternate sources of potential funds are investigated. (MJB)

The debate with regard to the relationship of the public and private sectors in higher education is increasingly, but necessarily, frantic. The present and future prospects of private as well as public higher education, are not subjects for easy generalization. It seems probable that we will be dealing with a smaller student market in the 1980's.…

Federal support of university research efforts appears to be at a low point. This is causing a decrease in the effectiveness of the universities in carrying out their role in producing and transmitting scientific knowledge. (BB)

Public financial support for intellectual disability in the United States grew from 2.3 billion in 1955 to 82.6 billion in 2004, and the federal government emerged during this period as the principal provider of such support. Notwithstanding this unprecedented growth in financial support, many inequities persist today in the distribution of…

This article reports that in 2001, for the first time since its creation 20 years earlier, Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waiver programs for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities had Federal and state expenditures that exceeded those for Medicaid Intermediate Care Facilities for Persons with Mental…

This annotated bibliography on higher education finance lists 79 journal articles, books, conference papers, and reports originally published from 1973 through 1995 with most published in the 1990s. Citations include lengthy analytical summaries and critiques. The bibliography is presented in six sections which cover the following topics: (1)…

This report provides a comprehensive picture of total federal financial support for education for fiscal years 1980 through 1988. Outlays were used in this report rather than obligations, with the exception of academic research at institutions of higher education. Federal support for education falls into three categories: on-budget support,…

Despite the persistent possibility that foreign languages and international studies may become lost in the current federal policy of fiscal restraint, the immediate public policy context for these areas is guardedly optimistic. Recent years have produced increased media attention, growing public support, and professional unity and organization.…

Information is presented on the resources ad commitments made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) for funding year 1980. Information is provided for agencies within the Department of Agriculture regarding student assistance, research and development (R&D) equipment and facilities,…

This article documents decreasing support for education research and introduces this special issue. The difficulties in obtaining research grants, getting schools to cooperate, maintaining treatment integrity, and communicating findings are noted. High-quality school-based research is encouraged. (DB)